Debbie Corder, a caregiver and trained nurse with FirstLight Home Care, gives medication to Bill and Dolly Gregory at their Englewood home. The Cincinnati Enquirer/ Cara Owsley

Written by

Amber Hunt
Cincinnati Enquirer

Ask Dolly Gregory about her younger years, and out come the newspaper clippings: She was once a firefighter - one of Ohio's first women to suit up - in a small Wood County town called Jerry City, an achievement noted in a 1973 issue of her local paper.

But the grandmother of 19 - great-grandmother to seven, she's quick to add - isn't as nimble as she once was. Pain from rheumatoid arthritis began creeping into her joints about six years ago, making it tough to take care of herself and her husband, Bill, who has Parkinson's disease and suffered several strokes.